Irish language minister with poor Irish is a complete farce and insult

The appointment of Joe McHugh is a major blow for those trying to save the Irish language. Protesters gathered in Dublin.
Photo by: Photocall Ireland

Serious questions about the judgement of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny are being posed this week after his attempt to recover popularity by reorganizing his government last Tuesday backfired spectacularly, sparking off protests, a social media storm, tetchy scenes in the Dáil, and almost universal criticism in the press.

It is the unprecedented appointment of a non-Irish speaker to the position of Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht that has caused the greatest uproar.

At a time when learning Irish in America has never been more popular, when hundreds of students have enrolled in Irish language courses at campuses like Notre Dame, this latest move is a bitter disappointment.

Gaeltacht is the name given to the last pockets of territory in the remote south, west, and northwest of Ireland where Irish is still the primary language of communication. Due to their peripheral location on the shores of the Atlantic as well as the below average quality of the soil there, they are at a considerable economic disadvantage when compared to the east and south of Ireland.

Recent studies have shown that unless drastic action is taken, the gradual decline in population may mean that, within fifteen years, Irish could disappear as the default language of communication in those areas.

The Minister for the Gaeltacht is tasked with helping to reverse this trend, as well as improving economic conditions in the Gaeltacht. As part of his duties, he regularly meets with representatives of the Gaeltacht and other interest groups that are doing their best to keep Irish alive.

Until now, those meetings were held in the Irish language. From now on, residents of the Gaeltacht will be forced to speak English to the Minister. In addition, staff at the Department of the Gaeltacht, which previously conducted its internal affairs through Irish, will have to switch to English when the Minister is present.

The symbolism of an Irish government Minister with responsibility for helping to preserve and promote the Irish language forcing those in his presence to switch to English is unprecedented and bizarre.

The Irish Daily Mail’s front page headline “AN INSULT TO IRISH SPEAKERS” was echoed in The Irish Times, which dropped its usual reserve, and, in a blistering editorial broadside asked:

“How could Taoiseach Enda Kenny have appointed a junior minister with a special responsibility for the Gaeltacht, who lacks an essential qualification for that job – fluency in the State’s first official language? And how could Joe McHugh, who is the Minister of State with that responsibility, have accepted the portfolio? Mr McHugh is hopeful that he can quickly master the language and he yesterday invited the public to “join him on his journey” as he improves his knowledge of the language. Good intentions are, however, not good enough at this level.”

Conradh na Gaeilge, the democratic forum for the Irish speaking community, was quick to respond, and organized a flash protest outside Enda Kenny’s office within 24 hours of the appointment. The protest was well attended and supported by the leaders of all the opposition parties.

Conradh na Gaeilge’s constructive suggestion to the problem of the appointment was to simply swap the responsibilities of the two junior ministers in the Department of Arts, Culture, and the Gaeltacht, putting fluent Irish-speaker Aodhán Ó Riordáin in charge of the Gaeltacht portfolio.

This move would have enabled Enda Kenny to resolve the problem without losing face, but was rejected by the Taoiseach, who announced that the new minister was to start a refresher course in Irish this week, “and would be fluent” by the end of the summer.

The appointment of a non-Irish-speaker to the position of Minister for the Gaeltacht is the latest example of a worrying tendency by the current government to disregard the civil rights of Irish speakers, despite widespread sympathy for their plight. In February Conradh na Gaeilge organized Lá Mór na Gaeilge, the largest and most successful Irish language Civil Rights protest in 50 years, which was attended by 10,000 supporters.